VEHICLE ALERTING DEVICE
A vehicle alerting device is to be mounted to a rear side portion of a vehicle and includes first and second groups of light emitting components mounted to a base seat, and a central control unit receiving a brake lamp signal and turn signals from the vehicle, and controlling activation and deactivation of the light emitting components. The central control unit drives the first group of the light emitting components to emit light when receiving the left turn lamp signal, drives the second group of the light emitting components to emit light when receiving the right turn lamp signal, and drives at least a portion of the first and second groups of the light emitting components to emit light when receiving the brake lamp signal.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an alerting device, and more particularly to a vehicle alerting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a vehicle is driven during daytime, turn lamps and brake lamps at a rear side portion of the vehicle are used to alert other vehicles regarding the driver's operation or intention. During night time, additional tail lamps will be turned on when the headlamps are turned on to attract the attention of other drivers.
In general, the brake lamps are mounted to the rear side portion of the vehicle, and the turn lamps may be mounted to each of a front portion, a lateral portion and the rear portion of the vehicle. However, promoting safety when driving is always a goal in the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle alerting device that may provide auxiliary alert to other vehicles.
According to the present invention, a vehicle alerting device is adapted to be mounted to a rear side portion of a vehicle. The vehicle includes a vehicle lamp control unit that provides a brake lamp signal when the vehicle is braked, a left turn lamp signal when a left turn lamp of the vehicle is turned on, and a right turn lamp signal when a right turn lamp of the vehicle is turned on. The vehicle alerting device comprises:
a light emitting unit including a base seat, and a plurality of light emitting components that are mounted on the base seat; and
a central control unit to be coupled to the vehicle lamp control unit for receiving the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal, and the right turn lamp signal therefrom, and coupled to the light emitting unit to control activation and deactivation of the light emitting components.
The light emitting unit includes first and second groups of the light emitting components.
The central control unit drives the first group of the light emitting components to emit light when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby, drives the second group of the light emitting components to emit light when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby, and drives at least a portion of the first group and the second group of the light emitting components to emit light when the brake lamp signal is received thereby.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The light emitting unit 2 includes a base seat 21, a plurality of light emitting components 22 (e.g., light emitting diodes) that are mounted on the base seat 21, and a lamp cover 23. In this embodiment, the base seat 21 is mounted to a central position of the rear side portion of the vehicle 1. The light emitting components 22 are separately disposed on the base seat 21, and the lamp cover 23 is light-transmissive and is disposed to cover the base seat 21. In this embodiment, the lamp cover 23 is designed to have a light-guiding pattern (see
In this embodiment, with reference to
The central control unit 3 is coupled to the vehicle lamp control unit 11 for receiving the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal, and the right turn lamp signal therefrom, optionally receives the headlamp signal therefrom, and is coupled to the light emitting unit 2 for control activation and deactivation of the light emitting components 22. The central control unit 3 may include a microcontroller unit (MCU), and stores program instructions which, when executed by the MCU, enables the MCU to control activation and deactivation of the light emitting components 22 according to the lamp signals received from the vehicle lamp control unit 11.
Hereinafter,
Referring to
Referring to
When ambient light is not sufficient, the driver of the vehicle 1 may turn on the headlamps of the vehicle 1. Hereinafter,
In general, indications of the turn lamps have higher importance than that of the brake lamps, and the indications of the brake lamps have higher importance than that of the headlamps. Therefore, the central control unit 3 is configured to drive the third group 223 of the light emitting components 22 to emit light with a fifth intensity higher than the fourth intensity when the brake lamp signal is also received thereby (as shown in
Similarly, the central control unit 3 is configured to drive the first group 221 of the light emitting components 22 to emit light with the fifth intensity when the brake lamp signal is also received thereby (as shown in
Also, the central control unit 3 is configured to drive the second group 222 of the light emitting components 22 to emit light with the fifth intensity when the brake lamp signal is also received thereby (as shown in
It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the fifth intensity is equal to the first intensity, the sixth intensity is equal to the second intensity, and the seventh intensity is equal to the third intensity. In other embodiments, the fifth, sixth and seventh intensity may differ from the first, second and third intensities, respectively. In addition, the central control unit 3 deactivates the first group 221 of the light emitting components 22 when all of the brake lamp signal, the right turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby, deactivates the second group 222 of the light emitting components 22 when all of the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby, and deactivates the third group 223 of the light emitting components 22 when both of the brake lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby.
It should be noted that the intensity of light emitted by the light emitting components 22 may be controlled by the central control unit 3 using direct current magnitude control, pulse width modulation (PWM), or any other conventional method for driving the light emitting components 22.
To sum up, the vehicle alerting device according to the present invention may display different patterns with different intensities according to the operation (e.g., brake, turn on the turn lamps or headlamps) of the vehicle driver, so as to provide additional alert to other vehicles, thereby reducing occurrence of traffic accidents.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Claims
1. A vehicle alerting device adapted to be mounted to a rear side portion of a vehicle, the vehicle including a vehicle lamp control unit that provides a brake lamp signal when the vehicle is braked, a left turn lamp signal when a left turn lamp of the vehicle is turned on, and a right turn lamp signal when a right turn lamp of the vehicle is turned on, said vehicle alerting device comprising:
- a light emitting unit including a base seat, and a plurality of light emitting components that are mounted on said base seat; and
- a central control unit to be coupled to the vehicle lamp control unit for receiving the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal, and the right turn lamp signal therefrom, and coupled to said light emitting unit to control activation and deactivation of said light emitting components;
- wherein said light emitting unit includes first and second groups of said light emitting components,
- said central control unit driving said first group of said light emitting components to emit light when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby, driving said second group of said light emitting components to emit light when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby, and driving at least a portion of said first group and said second group of said light emitting components to emit light when the brake lamp signal is received thereby.
2. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central control unit is configured to
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a second intensity higher than the first intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a third intensity higher than the first intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit.
3. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 1, the vehicle lamp control unit further providing a headlamp signal when a headlamp of the vehicle is turned on, wherein said central control unit further receives the headlamp signal, and is configured to, when the headlamp signal is not received thereby,
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a second intensity higher than the first intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a third intensity higher than the first intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit; and
- wherein said central control unit is further configured to, when the headlamp signal is received thereby,
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a fourth intensity lower than the first intensity when both of the brake lamp signal and the left turn lamp signal are not received by said central control unit, to emit light with a fifth intensity higher than the fourth intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a sixth intensity higher than the fifth intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the fourth intensity when both of the brake lamp signal and the right turn lamp signal are not received by said central control unit, to emit light with the fifth intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a seventh intensity higher than the fifth intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit.
4. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said central control unit deactivates said first group of said light emitting components when all of the brake lamp signal, the right turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby, and deactivates said second group of said light emitting components when all of the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby.
5. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fifth intensity is equal to the first intensity, the sixth intensity is equal to the second intensity, and the seventh intensity is equal to the third intensity.
6. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fifth intensity is different from the first intensity, the sixth intensity is different from the second intensity, and the seventh intensity is different from the third intensity.
7. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first group of said light emitting components is mounted on said base seat so as to form a left turn pattern when driven to emit light, and said second group of said light emitting components is mounted on said base seat so as to form a right turn pattern when driven to emit light.
8. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said light emitting unit further includes a third group of said light emitting components, said central control unit driving said third group of said light emitting components to emit light when the brake lamp signal is received thereby.
9. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said third group of said light emitting components is mounted on said base seat and is surrounded by said first group and said second group of said light emitting components.
10. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said central control unit is configured to
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a second intensity higher than the first intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit,
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a third intensity higher than the first intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said third group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby.
11. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 8, the vehicle lamp control unit further providing a headlamp signal when a headlamp of the vehicle is turned on, wherein said central control unit further receives the headlamp signal, and is configured to, when the headlamp signal is not received thereby,
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a second intensity higher than the first intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit,
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a third intensity higher than the first intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said third group of said light emitting components to emit light with the first intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby; and
- wherein said central control unit is further configured to, when the headlamp signal is received thereby,
- drive said first group of said light emitting components to emit light with a fourth intensity lower than the first intensity when both of the brake lamp signal and the left turn lamp signal are not received by said central control unit, to emit light with a fifth intensity higher than the fourth intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a sixth intensity higher than the fifth intensity when the left turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit,
- drive said second group of said light emitting components to emit light with the fourth intensity when both of the brake lamp signal and the right turn lamp signal are not received by said central control unit, to emit light with the fifth intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby, and to emit light with a seventh intensity higher than the fifth intensity when the right turn lamp signal is received thereby and regardless of whether the brake lamp signal is received by said central control unit, and
- drive said third group of said light emitting components to emit light with the fourth intensity when the brake lamp signal is not received thereby, and to emit light with the fifth intensity when the brake lamp signal is received thereby.
12. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 11 wherein said central control unit deactivates said first group of said light emitting components when all of the brake lamp signal, the right turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby, deactivates said second group of said light emitting components when all of the brake lamp signal, the left turn lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby, and deactivates said third group of said light emitting components when both of the brake lamp signal and the headlamp signal are not received thereby.
13. The vehicle alerting device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a power supply unit coupled to said central control unit for supplying working power thereto.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 4, 2013
Publication Date: Apr 9, 2015
Inventor: Ming-Liang Hu (Tainan City)
Application Number: 14/046,542
International Classification: B60Q 1/30 (20060101);